MileSplit Foot Locker National Power Rankings (Nov. 28)

With one more Foot Locker Regional to go, the MileSplit Foot Locker National Power Rankings begin to shape up into a meet preview more than anything. With three Foot Locker Regionals taking place this past weekend a lot of movement occurred in this weeks rankings.

MileSplit Foot Locker National Power Rankings (Nov. 28)

Boys

1. German Fernandez (Sr., Riverbank, CA) - Records are meant to be broken, or at least that is how the saying goes. Fernandez followed suit Saturday at the California State Meet, crushing the field of competitiors and setting the course record in the process. His course record beat that of past Foot Locker champion Marc Davis, as the senior ran 14:24, 49 seconds ahead of the second best performance of the day.

2. Chris Derrick (Sr., Neuqua Valley, IL) - The second of four hard weeks of post-season racing, Derrick finished a strong second at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional. The senior cruised in to earn his first Foot Locker National berth, eight seconds behind race winner Mike Fout (IN) in 15:04.

3. Colby Lowe (Sr., Southlake Carroll, TX) - Lowe made a statement at the Foot Locker South Regional this past Saturday, winning the seeded race in 14:45. His eleven second win over the field provides enough evidence that he is at another level and has to be considered one of the favorites at Foot Locker Nationals.

4. Donn Cabral (Sr., Glastonbury, CT) - Last week if our Power Rankings went 13 deep Cabral would have been on the roster. However, this past weekend's 15 second win at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional puts Cabral up to this spot in the rankings. The senior dominated the strong field running 15:09.

7. Mike Fout (Sr., La Porte, IN) - Fout used a good kick at the end of the race to pull away over the last 100 meters for a big victory at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional. Fout ran with three others over the final 800 meters, putting in a bigger move with 200 meters to go and won.

8. Ryan Hill (Sr., Hickory, NC) - 14:56. That's the time Hill used to earn a second place finish at the Foot Locker South Regional this past weekend. Last year Hill won the meet, while this year the senior earned his second trip to San Diego racing a very smart race.

9. Brian Leung (Sr., WW-PS, NJ) - Leung's impressive season continued at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional where he finished third overall in 15:25. The frontrunner helped push the pace during the race and qualified for his first Foot Locker Nationals.

10. Maverick Darling (Sr., Ovid-Elise, MI) - Running a very smart and tactical race, Darling easily qualified while placing third at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional. Darling ran a strong 15:07 to seperate himself from the rest of the pack fairly easily.

11. Miles Unterreiner (Sr., Gig Harbor, WA) - Idle. Next up the Foot Locker West Regional.

12. Jason Witt (Sr., Midlothian, VA) - A fourth place effort at the Foot Locker South Regional meet helped the senior keep his impressive season going. Witt has run some incredible performances this year and did so again last Saturday in 15:03.

Girls

1. Jordan Hasay (Jr., Mission Prep, CA) - Hasay won her third consecutive state meet title at the California State Meet. Her time of 17:05 earned her the second fastest time of the day behind only U.S. #4 Christine Babcock's 17:04.

2. Claire Durkin (Sr., Worthington, OH) - Winning the Foot Locker Midwest Regional by 41 seconds in a course record time puts Durkin in the pre-race favorite list now for Foot Locker Nationals. Durkin broke the previous meet record by running 17:01 and beating runner-up U.S. #8 Katie Flood by over 200 meters.

3. Neely Spence (Sr., Shippensburg, PA) - Winning her second regional title in as many years puts Spence into the three spot this week. She won the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Saturday with an impressive display of strength and courage. That type of tanacity will be helpful in a week and a half in San Diego.

4. Christine Babcock (Sr., Woodbridge, CA) - Babcock easily won her division of the California State Meet in the fastest time of the day. Her time of 17:04 over the 5k course put her one second ahead of U.S. #1 Jordan Hasay's time on the day.

5. Carly Seymour (Sr., Central Cambria, PA) - Seymour finished in fourth at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional in 17:46. Her time was a mere nine seconds off of race winner Spence, helping her secure another berth to Foot Locker Nationals.

6. Ashley Brasovan (Jr., Wellington, FL) - The curse is broken. Brasovan had incredibly bad luck the prior two years at the Foot Locker South course, not qualifying for the national meet either time despite being one of the favorites. This year she finished sixth place overall, just at the tail end of the lead pack.

7. Kathy Kroeger (Jr., Independence, TN) - Using every last bit of energy she had, Kroeger surged at the line to win Saturday's Foot Locker South Regional. This race win was very important as it meant the junior took one more step towards winning her second national title in a row. Kroeger had to outlean Florida star Kayla Hale at the line, both athletes finishing in 16:56.

8. Katie Flood (So., Dowling Catholic, IA) - Heading into Saturday's Foot Locker Midwest Regional, Flood was labeled the pre-race favorite after smashing up competition all season. A wake up call of sorts occurred instead. Flood finished second to U.S. #2 Claire Durkin by 41 seconds, finishing the race in 17:42. This was Flood's first ever Foot Locker Regional race.

9. Georgia Griffin (Sr., Hanover, NH) - Griffin helped pace her team at the NTN Northeast Regional this past weekend, winning the race in impressive fashion over some very strong competition. Her team earned an at-large bid on Sunday, so her next performance takes place at Nike Team Nationals.

11. Emily Infeld (Sr., Clev. Heights Beaumont, OH) - Coming up big at one of the races that matter most, Infeld secured her ticket to San Diego after placing third at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional. Infeld ran a tactically smart race, finishing strong over the final 100 meters to finish only two seconds behind runner-up U.S. #8 Katie Flood.

12. Kayla Hale (Jr., Holy Trinity, FL) - Hale's impressive second place performance at Foot Locker South pushed her into this week's Power Rankings. Hale ran the best race she has all season, beating a group of very good individuals to finish a fraction of a second off of race winner u.S. #7 Kathy Kroeger. She ran 16:56, the same time Kroeger finished with.

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Comments

I don't know about top three, but I think he should be a little higher.
If you look at competition, his margin of victory over common oponents is great than that of Cabral (PA runners at Mideast Meet of Champions).
Lowe ran at a lightning fast course. His 14:45 is not as impressive as Fout's 14:55 in cold, windy conditions on a more challenging UW Parkside course.
I think you'd have to definitely put German Fernandez, Chris Derrick, and Luke Puskedra ahead of him. After that, I think there's a case to be made about him being as high as fourth. Others can argue the PA runners were not trying at Mideast which made Cabral's run against them more competitive or that so and so was training through a meet, etc. I don't buy any of that.

I think everybody underestimates the South Regional Girls, because of the slower times than last year, and I think Ashley Brasovan should be ranked higher, because at the regionals she looked like she was just racing to qualify